Most people buy a house once in a lifetime. The house is usually a dream come true. Often people put off purchasing a house not due to lack of funds but because they have yet to find their dream home.

With the construction industry in Cochin and Kerala in general vibrant, there are a number of competing firms vying for the attention of the right buyer. Many marketing gimmicks are resorted to attract the potential client.

Offering prospective residents a tour through a sample apartment in the midst of on going construction has been a prevalent practice for some time now.

Mock-up apartments are the latest of the marketing tool used by the industry. Mock-ups are off-site full size exact replica of an apartment that is offered in a project.

The definite advantage an off-site mock-up apartment has over a sample apartment is the absence of workers swarming all over the place and the incessant transport of building materials with the accompanied noise and dust.

An off-site arrangement helps to keep the living space spick and span and always ready to for a client. It ensures the right ambience to create tremendous interest and promotes impulse buying.

The trends in construction industry affect directly the real estate sector. Real Estate Cochin is experiencing a good hype and it is expected to continue for a while. Ethical and enhanced marketing tools like the mock-ups are always welcome in the industry.

Hmm, not sure about the idea of mock up apartments. Despite the obvious advantage of dustless and noiseless atmosphere, you cannot actually see the area around your apartment to be. You might as well have a virtual tour of your apartment-to-be on the other side of the globe.

Didnt think ethical marketing tools exist when it comes to selling holiday apartments. Anyway, ive never come across ones when viewed apartments in Bulgaria. The guys were really nice when encouraging us to come and view apartments, arranged for flights and accommodation there. Once in Bulgaria tactics changed, we were constantly being put under pressure to buy and to sign papers. When they realised we were not going to committ ourselves there and then, tactics changed again, the agents were horrible. I understand agents wanted their commission, but we needed time to think, weigh pro-s and con-s, etc before committing ourselves. The truth is, we liked the area and the apartments, but the agents put us off this completely!

Somehow not sure that promoting impulse buying is ethical Committing yourself to buying a holiday apartment is not quite the same as buying a bar of chocolate or a pair of shoes where occasional impulse may be forgiveable.

One would need cash or at least access to credit to indulge in any kind of impulse buying.

Personally, prefer sample apartments to mock-ups, but can see certain advantages in this.